Coffee, cheesecake and faith

Owners started Java Trail with empty pockets 3 years ago

Owners started Java Trail with empty pockets 3 years ago

May 12, 2006|IDA CHIPMAN Tribune Correspondent

PLYMOUTH -- When Ed and Sandi Madden opened Java Trail three years ago, they didn't have a dime to their name. All they had was faith in God and in each other. Their retirement savings had been depleted, and they were flat broke. Ten years before, in 1993, Ed had been diagnosed with a very rare cancer -- leiomyosarcoma -- affecting the muscles of his thigh. With the rapidly spreading disease, he was given a 10 percent chance of survival. Doctors proposed amputating his entire leg. Seeking a second opinion, Ed went to the University of Chicago, where, instead of taking the whole limb, all the thigh muscles were removed. Against all odds, given only three years to live, Ed has survived. "Now," Sandi beamed, "he is clean!" He was able to go back to work at his job in middle management at AM General. Let go after a short time, he was hired at Magnequench in Valparaiso, Ind., only to become jobless seven weeks later when the company moved its operations to Mexico. He was unemployed for 2 1/2 years, and the Maddens were living on what Ed could bring in by making cheesecakes in their home and what Patti earned at her job. He also worked part time at anything he could find. Sometimes that meant sweeping floors or hiring on as temporary help on construction jobs. And then a miracle happened. On Christmas Eve of 2002, they were chatting with Judy Delp, owner of the Crosswalk, a Christian bookstore in downtown Plymouth. Judy asked what Ed was doing and he said "Not much, but I keep looking." She asked if the Maddens would consider opening a coffee shop in what had been Van Gilder's upholstery store at the rear of the bookstore's building, 110 W. LaPorte St. Ed, a 1961 graduate of Plymouth High School, had always dreamed of owning his own little place. He loves to cook and is famous not only for his cheesecakes but his homemade soups, sandwiches and pastries. But a coffee shop? In Plymouth? Will people come? That's a West Coast thing, isn't it? They prayed about it. Then they spent the next two weeks visiting all of the coffee shops in a 50-mile radius, taking notes and deciding what they liked and didn't like about various establishments. "We couldn't sleep at night because of all the coffee we were drinking," Ed said. It was scary, going out on a financial limb like that. "Is this a good idea or a God idea?" Sandi pondered. Sandi, a former professional Christian music singer and composer, said there are two ways to respond to doubt. "Either it would frustrate the daylights out of you or motivate you," she said. It motivated. Several local banks turned them down, saying they didn't meet the criteria for a loan estimated at $30,000. Then they hit upon an idea. Credit cards. "Everyone knows credit cards are bad for you," Sandi joked. "That door was opened for us and, by faith, we walked through it." Everything fell into place. The Delps even hired Ed to renovate the space he would need. On May 9, 2003, Java Trail opened for business. People came. They came for breakfast, they came for lunch, they came for breaks, and they came after school and after work. "Coffee, although very popular, is the smallest part of our trade," Ed said. Smoothies are huge. During the most recent half-day of school, they served up 103 smoothies in an hour and a half. Married for 26 years in September, they enjoy working together. Sandi does the bookkeeping and occasionally helps out behind the counter, and they've hired four other people. Everything was going great, even though Ed was on his feet a lot, working 81 hours a week. They've been blessed in other ways as well. In October of their first year, Sandi suggested that her husband -- who loves golf -- take a break and get some exercise. She didn't mean the kind of break that he took. Ed and his friend, Brian Trump, pastor of the Argos Wesleyan Church, went to the Rosella Ford golf course in Warsaw. On the first tee, Ed squared up, took a big swing and hit the ball. He dropped the club and fell to the ground in agony. His right femur -- the one that had undergone surgery, chemotherapy and radiation -- was severed. His thigh bone was like Swiss cheese -- porous and riddled with decay. Brian ran for help. Ed never lost consciousness. When his friend came back, Ed thanked him for straightening his injured leg so that the toes pointed upward. "I never touched you," Brian said. "Well, someone did," Ed said. "I saw a hand take hold of my leg and move it so that it was straight." Back at the University of Chicago, the doctors said that had not the toes been straightened, far more serious injury would have occurred. Sandi said, "It was God's hand. We know that. He has been with us all along." A titanium rod, from hip to knee, was implanted. Ed said in jest that he now carries his own golf club with him wherever he goes. While he was recuperating, their daughter, Michelle Comeno, kept Java Trail open. She is one of five children of their blended family. She didn't do it alone. She couldn't have. Over 50 Plymouth people -- many of whom she didn't even know -- volunteered to work. There was a state trooper, pastors, working mothers, a surgeon and many others, all donating their time. Even Ed's first wife came in to help. They cooked, they cleaned, they did dishes, they waited tables. They watered the plants, shopped for groceries and prayed for his recovery. After Ed came home from the hospital a month later and was able to return to work, people continued to show up to help. The editor of Women's World saw a Tribune article about the outpouring of support from the community and featured the Maddens in the magazine. "Those who helped us are our loving angels," Sandi said. Ed, now 62, is open to the idea of retirement. "But not until -- or unless -- there would be someone with the same goals and values we have who would take Java Trail to the next level," he said. "It will never just go on the market." "Our coffee shop is special," Sandi added. "We love people. When someone comes through the door, we want them to feel a sense of peace. "God has given us an awesome opportunity to be here for people. That will never change." Story ideas? Call Ida Chipman (574) 936-1124, or e-mail: ichipman@thenetanywhere.com